


Within

by whatthefridge



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Pre-smut, Spark!Stiles, canon divergence - season 3b, void!Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-15 21:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11239446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthefridge/pseuds/whatthefridge
Summary: The Nogitsune took over Stiles, but it didn't expect to be challenged by his Spark. Now it has to decide if the kid is worth the hassle of keeping.





	Within

The Nogitsune’s possessed plenty of people in the past, but this human — _Stiles_ — is the most fun it’s ever had. As it reaches the point of taking over the kid entirely, something starts fighting back. It’s not the kid, it’s too old, possibly as old as the fox itself. It’s hilarious how it’s fallen in love with the same body as the Spark, and the Spark’s not happy about activating before the boy is mature enough to handle it.

The Spark starts healing Stiles’s frayed edges, tightening the space around the void. And it becomes tedious work to remain in the body; the Nogitsune’s not even sure if it’s worth it. Stay and risk obliteration, or leave and give up its favorite meat suit. Same as any exorcism. Been there, done that. The fox is bored of the same old routine, bored enough to consider a third option. And the Spark is enough of a fool to believe it’s a fair compromise.

#

Stiles wakes up sweating like he’s just broken a fever. But that’s not it. He flexes his fingers, unsure what to make of his body responding to his will. The Nogitsune had plans to use him to throw the world into chaos, starting with his hometown. It’d taken over his body, biding its time, getting people to trust the imposter, and suddenly it’s changed its mind? No way would it casually leave Stiles’s body, so where had it gone?

Stiles stares at his curling fingers, searching for the void inside himself. He finds it in the periphery of his consciousness, its tendrils hooked in but not active. It’s almost like the Nogitsune’s found itself stuck inside Stiles, and Stiles gives in to his morbid curiosity. He pokes the void. It wriggles around, and Stiles feels a surge of energy beneath his skin. 

No way.

He rushes to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror, and he expects the Nogitsune to be standing behind him, taking the form of its former meat suit, a bandaged corpse with sharp metal teeth. But there’s only him. He closes his eyes and breathes, dwelling on a sinking feeling that this is a new trick, the fox raising his bravado before throughly crushing his spirit. The fox has been immobilized, though; he’s certain of it. He just doesn’t know where the certainty is coming from. The Nogitsune’s alive. And it’s awake. Stiles opens his eyes and sees the void staring back at him. 

It’s him, but it’s not him. 

He should be freaking the fuck out and calling Scott or Deaton or _someone_. But there’s only an eerie calm, a reassuring pressure in the back of his mind. The Nogitsune’s existence may be entirely selfish and apathetic to human life, but Stiles isn’t, not really. He’s a tad bit apathetic to everyone who’s not in his closest circle, but that’s not grounds to call himself a sociopath; he’s always used Scott as his moral compass anyway. It’s not like there’s any significant difference in his priorities. He’s definitely not being driven by an insatiable drive to consume everything in his path. Whatever portion of him that’s gone missing — cut out for the Nogitsune’s quiet nest — it hasn’t warped him.

He hopes it hasn’t warped him. 

All he feels is a strange new confidence coursing through his veins, his fears and worries melting away with it. He’s grown up holding himself back to give meek little Scott room to feel like an equal. But Scott’s an alpha werewolf these days, he doesn’t need coddling. Stiles only ever listens to him because he wants to, not because he has to. 

There’s also the matter of Derek. Stiles’s really itching to call Derek out on his bluff — the guy would never truly hurt him, not after the shit they’ve been through. Derek likes Stiles. Possibly more than likes him. And Stiles never explored that possibility while his life revolved being a flustered mess around girls. He could finally bang Lydia now that he isn’t intimidated by her looks and smarts. He could wrap naive Malia around his finger. Hell, he could test if Danny was really kidding about wanting to fuck him. He’s only been fooling himself into believing he isn’t good enough; too much time spent comparing himself to Jackson, that hot bastard. He could have anyone if he put his mind to it.

God, is this what Scott’s life is like? All that power and he just wants to get laid? But they’re horny teenagers. Raging hormones don’t wait for vanquishing evil. Besides, whatever the hell’s happened to him has put to rest the Nogitsune’s grand plans. At least its previous grand plans that involved completely taking over Stiles’s body and hurting all his friends. They have no idea the bullet they’ve dodged. Stiles can go on pretending he’s just woozy from the aftermath of activating the Nemeton, coping with the same darkness that’s permanently marked Scott and Allison. Maybe that’s where the fox got buried — the darkness replaced by the void. 

Stiles doesn’t actually mind. There’s a whole world out there that’s his for the taking. Time for some real fun in his life.


End file.
